Live In Abundance

November 20, 2016 - 

For as long as I can remember, I’ve lacked confidence.  In this day and age, it is so easy to compare yourself to others, and I am the first to say that I have fallen victim to this trend many many times in my life.  Whether that meant me doubting my looks, strength, or intelligence, there always seemed to be someone who was better at whatever it was that I did.  For a period of time, I really did let this bring me down, and it wasn’t until fairly recently that my mindset started to change.  A dear friend and mentor gave me some of the best advice, that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.  What she told me was simple and concise, but something that has stuck with my ever since. 

She told me to live life in abundance rather than in lack.

To me, this means to focus on the things that make me happy, and lift me up, rather than the ones that pull me down.  To surround myself with encouraging and inspiring people, and to be confident in who I am as an individual.  Rather than letting my flaws bring me down, I am learning to embrace them, and allowing them set me apart from others.  It is so easy to embrace the things that we are good at, however, true growth comes from learning to love our flaws, and the things that set us apart from the crowd. 

For me, this task has been a challenge, and is something that I am still working on today.  I find myself gaining more and more confidence each and every day, but this is a journey, and once you lose confidence in a certain aspect of your life, it takes time to rebuild it.  Being patient is crucial in this journey, and it is extremely important to keep in mind that confidence is not something that appears overnight.  It is a process that takes time and energy.  In the time being, the most important thing to do is to be grateful.  Think of all the things in life that bring you happiness, and let them drive you forward in this journey.  The biggest mistake we can make in life is to let the “lack” aspect of our lives take over.  Every single person has hardships in life – it is completely natural.   Furthermore, it is natural to feel sad and experience pain at times.  I am by no means saying to suppress these emotions, actually, I am saying quite the opposite.  Embrace these emotions.  Be grateful that we have the ability to feel, but take comfort in the fact that the sun will always come up, and these feelings will pass in time. 

It is so easy to forget that we have all of these emotions for a reason, without sadness, we would not be able to appreciate how wonderful it feels to be happy. 

So be grateful.  Be grateful for the fact that you are living and breathing today.  No matter where you are in life, start to focus on abundance, and try your very best to appreciate each and every moment.  Life isn’t always about being completely comfortable and happy, but often times, we end up growing the most as a person during these hard times.

-sb